Nordex: Successful re-entry into the Swedish market

New branch awarded contracts worth EUR 47 million

Hamburg, Nordex has made a successful return to the Swedish market with two major contracts. The two wind farms with installed capacity of 35 and 15 megawatts, respectively, have a combined value of EUR 47 million. “We owe this success to our new branch in Sweden,” explains Carsten Pedersen, COO Sales and Marketing at Nordex AG. Nordex had retreated from Sweden in 2003 as the market did not generate sufficient business. In August 2006, the team re-established operations in Uppsala near Stockholm.

The new contracts prove that Nordex was right to take this step. Work on constructing the Bondön wind farm is to commence at the end of 2007. Comprising 14 turbines N90/2,500 kW, the project is being executed for Danish developer Global Green Energy. Nordex is selling the second project – Huds Moar – to the in 2005 established operator Rabbaldshedde Kraft. The six N90/2,500 kW turbines are to go into operation at a site north of Gothenburg in spring 2008.

This year, Nordex will be recruiting project managers and service staff for the Swedish branch. Explains Pedersen: “We expect to receive further contracts in the near future and want to reinforce our local team to handle the projects more efficiently. We have in the N90/2500 an ideal turbine for wind speeds in Sweden and are now offering a modified climate version of this model.” This will ensure production in sub-zero temperatures of up to 20 degrees.

The strong demand for wind turbines in Sweden is being driven by the obligation which has been imposed on utilities to generate at least 16 percent of their output from renewable sources. At the same time, the prices of wind-generated electricity are tied to spot electricity prices, which are currently rising, as well as the price of traded green certificates. The price of electricity in the Scandinavian Nordpool electricity exchange rose by almost 40 percent in 2006.